Craft Talk Panel: Navigating Publishing as Women Writers
What is it like to be a working female author in the children's and young adult field today? In this special panel, join a panel of Latina authors as they expound on each of their unique publishing journeys, dispel some myths about the writing process, and how they created their latest works. Q&A to follow.
The Panel:
Camille Gomera-Tavarez is an Afro-Dominican authoress, designer, and creative from Clifton, New Jersey. She has a BFA in Graphic Design & Creative Writing from the Maryland Institute College of Art and is currently based in Philadelphia, PA. Her debut novel, High Spirits, received multiple starred reviews, was a Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of 2022, and was a 2023 Pura Belpré Honor winner. Her sophomore YA novel, The Girl, the Ring, & the Baseball Bat is set to be released in February 2024. Cynthia Harmony is an author and educational psychologist, originally from Mexico City. She is a 2023 recipient for the Sustainable Arts Foundation Illustrated Children's Books Award. She's the author of MI CIUDAD SINGS, MI CIUDAD CANTA (2022) a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and OUR WORLD: MEXICO (2023). Her upcoming picture book A FLICKER OF HOPE (2024) will be released simultaneously in English and Spanish by Viking PRH. When not writing, Cynthia can be found in a museum with her kids, dancing to a Latin beat, daydreaming of tacos, or planning her next family trip. Alda P. Dobbs is the author of the historical novels Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna and its followup, The Other Side of the River. Her debut novel received a Pura Belpre Honor and is a Texas Bluebonnet Master List selection. Alda was born in a small town in northern Mexico but moved to San Antonio, Texas as a child. She studied physics and worked as an engineer before pursuing her love of storytelling. She’s as passionate about connecting children to their past, their communities, different cultures and nature as she is about writing. Alda lives with her husband and two children outside Madrid, Spain. Laekan Zea Kemp is a writer living in Austin, Texas. Her debut novel, Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet was a 2022 Pura Belpré Honor Recipient. She has three objectives when it comes to storytelling: to make people laugh, cry, and crave Mexican food. Her work celebrates Chicane grit, resilience, creativity, and joy while exploring themes of identity and mental health.